5 of Last Week's Biggest Losers

There's never a shortage of losers in the stock market.

Let's take a closer look at five of this past week's biggest sinkers.

Company	Aug. 19	Weekly Loss	My Watchlist
ValueVision (Nasdaq: VVTV  )	$3.22	(41%)	Add
Gulf Resources (Nasdaq: GURE  )	$1.88	(37%)	Add
Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS  )	$9.98	(37%)	Add
VanceInfo (NYSE: VIT  )	$12.47	(29%)	Add
Travelzoo (Nasdaq: TZOO  )	$32.55	(29%)	Add

Source: Barron's.

ValueVision may be boasting about posting its fourth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA, but the market saw something else. The company behind multichannel retailer ShopNBC badly missed Wall Street's sales and bottom-line targets. A supplier's liquidation is also introducing a little uncertainty into the mix.

Gulf Resources tanked after the Chinese chemicals company that specializes in bromine posted uninspiring quarterly results. You don't need to be a chemist to know that it's not pretty when you combine ballooning costs with lower bromine production.

When John Malone offered to buy a controlling stake in Barnes & Noble for $17 a share, I didn't buy it. Malone couldn't be that stupid, I argued. I was right. Malone backed away from his lofty plans last week, choosing instead to invest a much smaller sum for a much smaller stake.

Chinese IT services provider VanceInfo took a hit after its CEO donned smudgy glasses.

"The near-term outlook for our industry lacks clarity," he told investors. Judging by the market's reaction to the report, it's fair to say that lacking clarity is not a good thing.

Then there's Travelzoo, with its second consecutive week of cage-free stock slides. The travel deals publisher was treated to the "don't buy" sound effect during Jim Cramer's Lightning Round on Mad Money. Oh, the power of a button push.